THE 

SCHOOL BULL1:<7FI IS 

PUBLICATION' 3. 



The PMlosophy 



-OF- 




JOHN KENNEDY. 



waiiwiaiNMmnfiimMaMinnnMMMMnnDMHHaiimMHiMii' 



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THE 



PHILOSOPHY 



OF 




hool Disc 



p 

il uin u, 



p 



A PAPER READ BEFORE THE MEETING OF 

THE NEW YORK STATE TEACHERS' 

ASSOCIATION, JULY 25, 1877. 



/ T 



BY 



/ 



\s 



JOHN KENNEDY, 



BUFFALO, N. Y. 



SYRACUSE, N. Y. : 
Davis, Bardeen & Co., Publishers. 

1877. 



Copyright, 1877, by John Kennedy. 

Ml 



9 






V 



This article having met with gratifying 
favor from the State Teachers' Association, 
I am induced to publish it in this temporary 
form with a view to obtaining any sugges- 
tions or conclusions which the educational 
public may make upon it. 

It is simply a study in School Discipline, 
which may be very much modified by 
further experience. 

JOHN KENNEDY. 

Buffalo, N. Y., Aug. 15, 1877. 



THE 

PHILOSOPHY OF SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 



In attempting to present a subjective 
treatment of School Discipline, I am aware 
that I undertake an ambitious task. — It in- 
volves in my case the necessity of laying 
down the postulates of a new science, as it 
were, and erecting thereon a structure sym- 
metrical in form, and strong in the fitness 
and completeness of its parts. 

As I am not acquainted with any previous 
attempt to formulate the elements and 
principles of what I regard as the science of 
School Discipline, I have been compelled 
to arrange and give names to the divisions 
and classifications occurring in the subject. 

Aiming as I do at a strictly scientific 



4 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

treatment this becomes a fundamental 
necessity. 

But this and many other points in the 
undertaking make me a very probable vic- 
tim for the waiting Achilles or Itheriels. 

We have no record of any science spring 
ing into existence full-fledged and meeting 
at the outstart all the necessities of its 
career. I should be very vain indeed, did 
I expect my feeble essay to be an exception 
in its experience to the efforts of those 
mighty men who in the past almost created 
new sciences, but failed of completeness. 
But instead of feeling assured of my founda- 
tion I stand in awe of the greatness of the 
subject and the exacting requirements of its 
details. 

It is wrong for one who touches the plow 
to say he expects to fail. — The utmost I 
can say is that- 1 have tried to succeed. 

It is due that I state the causes which 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 5 

have prompted me to the undertaking. — 
During the past ten years I have seen many 
schools in different states of the Union, 
and have had opportunity of observing their 
condition. I have found much bad work 
done, and great evils entailed upon the 
country in consequence. I have endeavored 
to trace the cause of failures which have 
become so wide-spread as to be truly start- 
ling. 

I am led to attribute the cause mainly to 
a want of clear ideas on the subject of 
School Discipline. 

I have seen many loose attempts at disci- 
pline and, have heard more looser talks on 
the subject. 

In this state of things I see no progress, 
but rather a great waste of effort which 
might be utilized to good ends. 

I have concluded that a science of disci- 
pline is needed to strengthen the teachers in 



6 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

the field, and to be in its turn advanced by 
the new wisdom which their experience 
may bring to light : to be, in short, the 
standard of our condition and the conserva- 
tor of our gains. 

It seems to me also professionally proper 
that the great body of American teachers 
should wield a common thought and be 
actuated by common maxims. It is unpro- 
fessional to have as many different concep- 
tions of discipline as there are individuals. 

It is the province of philosophy to teach 
men how to think. Our teachers are cap- 
able of thinking. It is wrong therefore to 
leave them and their schools at the mercy 
of mere intuition, or of directions dogmati- 
cally expressed or empirically conceived. 

These are among the considerations which 
have induced me to undertake the formula- 
tion of philosophy of School Discipline, 
rather byway of suggestion than instruction. 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 7 

It is a plea to look for light, and get to- 
gether on common ground if we can. 

Since discipline is the condition of suc- 
cess in schools it lies at the root of instruc- 
tion and is of vital practical importance. If 
we stumble in our conceptions of discipline, 
we paralyze in that measure all subsequent 
educational work, howsoever soundly 
conceived. How then may we test the 
quality and character of our conceptions ? 
By a subjective study of the thing. What 
is a subjective study ? It is the logical 
analysis of a complex idea, making clear 
the relations of the parts to each other and 
to the whole. 

School Discipline is a complex idea. It 

may be defined to be that power of control 
which produces and sustains order. If this 
definition is comprehensive we shall find 
within it all the parts we seek. If we fix 
the nature of order and the laws of that 



8 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

power of control which produces and sus- 
tains it, it would seem that our task is done. 
We have proceeded a step in our analysis 
and found the first division. What is order ? 
It is fitness of condition in things. As ap- 
plied to a school it means fitness of con- 
dition in all the parties comprehended in 
the idea of a school. The parties in this 
idea may be enumerated as follows : 1st, 
the district as a body politic ; 2d, the 
parents or guardians ; 3d, the children ; 4th, 
the teachers. 

The school is in perfect order when, and 
only when all these parties are in order. 
These parties are in order when they are in 
the condition most favorable for the upbuild- 
ing and advancement of the school. Let 
us examine the condition of order for each. 
The district may be said to be in order, 1st, 
when it is able to pay the necessary ex- 
penses of the school ; 2d, when it is willing 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 9 

to contribute freely to the wants of the 
school, and 3d, when it possesses a decor- 
ous and law-abiding public sentiment. 

The parents are in order, 1st, when they 
appreciate the value of education to the 
child ; 2d, when they are wise in the daily 
management of their children's time with a 
view to school duties and relations ; 3d, 
when they are properly affected toward the 
school, and thereby sustain its manage- 
ment. 

The children are in order, 1st, when their 
hearts are buoyant with unalloyed happi- 
ness ; 2d, when they have learned respect 
for their teacher and his office ; 3d, when 
they are inspired with an interest in the 
school and pride in its success. 

The teacher is in order, 1st, when he is 
thoroughly master of himself : that is a man 
of robust morality and discretion ; 2d, when 
he possesses the clearest mastery of the 



10 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

subject he is presumed to teach ; and 3d, 
when he apprehends correctly all the rela- 
tions surrounding and centreing in him. 
Possessed of this last condition of order, he 
will be enabled to make a correct diagnosis 
of a disordered school, to locate the disease 
and to apply the remedies proper for its 
cure. 

We have here intimated a truth, viz : that 
discipline is mainly a remedial agency de- 
pendent for success on a knowledge of the 
conditions of health and the pathology of dis- 
ease ; that the power of discipline consists in 
bringing each and all the factors up to their 
proper conditions of order. This implies a 
previous disturbance. 

For the purposes of examination we have 
indicated three grand divisions of the con- 
dition of order for each of the factors in a 
school. The disturbing cause may lie in 
only one of these twelve particulars, and 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. II 

yet the disturbance will be felt throughout 
the entire school All will be conscious of 
the disturbance ; but it requires wisdom 
and skill to penetrate to the cause and apply 
the remedy. This special wisdom and skill 
are the product of the first and third divi- 
sions of the teacher's action of order. 
Without them it is evident that he is pow- 
erless to meet the case at this point. Un- 
less he' is enabled to create a tendency 
towards health, his condition will but 
aggravate the difficulty and hasten its 
destructive progress. 

On reaching the diseased member it is 
necessary to go much further and distin- 
guish how far its disordered condition is the 
result of natural deformity, how far of mere 
neglect, and how far of the reaction of in- 
justice. 

It will be found on careful examination 
that most of the prevalent disorders in 



12 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

School Discipline may be traced to the last- 
mentioned cause, and that nearly all the in- 
justice may be traced directly to teachers and 
remotely to the system that employs them. 
If so, we have found an important clue and 
a means of narrowing the argument. This 
injustice has probably been far from inten- 
tional ; but the fruits of injustice are the 
same whether intended or not. 

If our propositions are true, we see that 
justice is an important element in School 
Discipline, and that the teacher ought to 
be qualified to perform judicial functions. 

To remedy existing evils and to avoid the 
recurrence of future evils the teacher should 
be incapable of injustice, and he will be so 
incapable if he is in the condition of order 
mentioned above. 

We may examine school justice under 
the 3d division of the teacher's condition of 
order. Injustice is a violation of personal 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 13 

rights and is a specific form of wrong. 
Rights are given by the Creator, and are 
justly alienable only by voluntary choice, or 
in consequence of crime or of the necessi- 
ties of society. 

We have named the persons immediately 
concerned in a school ; we shall now en- 
deavor to exhibit some of their rights. The 
district has a right, ist, to the careful pre- 
servation of the property it purchases ; 2d, 
to the comfort of an improved sentiment 
resulting from a well ordered school ; and 3d, 
to the enhanced value of property resulting 
from the same cause. The parents have a 
right, ist, to feel that their children are 
handled with thoughtful kindness and care 
with reference to their physical, moral 
and mental well-being; 2d, to the gratifica- 
tion of beholding the developed powers and 
possibilities of their children ; and 3d, to the 
assurance that their children are prepared 



14 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

for correct and successful lives. The child- 
ren have a right, ist, to find their parents' 
affection in the teacher's chair, inspiring 
their faith, hope and perseverance ; 2d, they 
have a right to sound instruction and cor- 
rect example ; 3d, they have a right to that 
perfect and strong maturity that comes of 
correct training. The teacher's contract 
gives him no moral right ; he only acquires 
rights as he gets himself into his proper 
condition ; he then has a right, ist, to his 
pay ; 2d, to the obedience and respect of 
the children ; and 3d, to the confidence and 
support of the parents and the community. 
A violation of any these rights works in- 
justice. 

Let us now observe how this injustice 
affects the conditions of order. Let for in- 
stance the property be continually damaged 
and destroyed. This is an injustice, and 
will affect the willingness of the district to 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. I 5 

make even suitable provisions for carrying 
on the school, — one of the conditions of 
order. Ill-conditioned school houses are 
not necessarily evidences of inherent penu- 
riousness in the community. To this add 
violations of other rights of the community, 
viz : of improved public sentiment and en- 
hanced value of property, and we cannot 
wonder at a low condition of willingness to 
contribute to the expenses of the school. 

Again let the children be wronged by 
harsh and unkind treatment : in this case 
neither they nor their parents will be prop- 
erly affected towards teachers as a class. 
Again let a school be badly disciplined for 
years, and it will produce a crop of rowdies, 
and evident lowering of the law-abiding 
sentiment of the community. In like man- 
ner it may be shown that for every specific 
injustice there is a corresponding disturb- 
ance in the conditions of order. 



l6 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

The teacher who is determined to be just 
will eventually have a well - disciplined 
school, though it may take time to restore 
the demoralized conditions to their proper 
tone. • 

The judicial functions of the teacher then 
consist in clearly defining the rights of all 
the parties at interest and securing those 
rights to their possessors in their fullest exer- 
cise. This is discipline. This is govern- 
ment in a school and it is government in a 
State. 

• We find it a business requiring the most 
matured powers, and are thus enabled to see 
the folly of the custom prevailing all over 
this nation of placing mere children in 
charge of schools. 

In this theory of discipline we are search- 
ing for underlying truths, and should not 
shrink from any of the consequences of our 
premises. 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. I J 

We may return over our ground again 
and see what is implied in the positions 
taken. What do we mean in saying that 
the teacher should be thoroughly master ot 
himself? We mean that he should have 
all his faculties and powers under full con- 
trol. This implies a knowledge of those 
faculties and their respective provinces in 
the economy of his being. This control 
implies not only the restraining from excess, 
but also the enforcing of exercise within 
their province. 

This seems severe, but it is true, and 
gives the only meaning of the ancient 
admonition : "Know thyself." 

What do we mean by saying that the 
teacher should possess the clearest mastery 
of the subjects he is presumed to teach ? 
We mean that he must be a student, keep- 
ing his matter alive by fresh investigations, 
and by constantly enlarging his mental vis- 



IS THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

sion. If he is intellectually lazy or desti- 
tute of studious tastes his matter will dry 
up, and he will feed the children on husks. 

A mere cramming of innutritious and un- 
digestible things must disturb their condi- 
tions of order and detract largely from the 
power of control. The victims of injustice 
cannot be in order. There may be an un- 
natural and forced appearance of order 
under the mere operation of physical fear. 
But physical fear is foreign to a correct dis- 
cipline under ordinary circumstances. 

Its use as a motive is j ustifiable only in case 
of a thoroughly perverted moral nature. 

The power of control is seen therefore to 
be altogether a moral power. We get the 
highest control over others by teaching 
them both by precept and example to con- 
trol themselves. Nature is in order. So 
is human nature until it is perverted by un- 
natural disturbances. 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 19 

/ Discipline then in order to the attain- 
ment of its highest efficiency must have for 
its object the prevention of perversions 
and the restoration to sound health of per- 
verted parts. 

We are brought again to the teacher's 
third condition of order, viz : the clear ap- 
^ prehension of all the relations surrounding 
and centreing in him. 

The clear apprehension of these relations 
implies a knowledge of very many facts and 
sequences. 

Without clear knowledge of these facts 
and their laws he cannot adjust the activi- 
ties of his field to harmonious movement. 

Nature does not pardon ignorance : she 
strikes back at the bungler with telling 
force and brings confusion to all his calcu- 
lations. But she is the faithful slave of the 
wise, bearing their burdens andredeeming 
their predictions. 



20 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

Rights and duties are generally correla- 
tive terms. Duty then would seem to be 
the central and fundamental element of dis- 
cipline ; and the first and most vital duty in 
the case would be to get wisdom, get un- 
derstanding. 

A sense of duty is good, but when it 
is supplemented with a knowledge of duty 
it is irresistible. 

Here we have a complete synthesis of the 
teacher's three conditions of order, if we 
may so term them. Knowledge of duty 
teaches him how to act ; sense of duty en- 
forces the action. 

What dignity and grandeur must sur- 
round the man who is the exponent of cor- 
rect discipline ! What dignity he must 
impart to his calling ! What a powerful 
force for good he^must introduce into 
society ! 

He cannot fail to be brought near to that 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 21 

Source of all wisdom, love and beneficence, 
and to have his labors sanctioned and sanc- 
tified by the approving voice of the great 
Master who has given his laws to the uni- 
verse. 

He becomes the instrument of a Higher 
Power who has ordered all things well ; his 
purpose is to know the will of his Superior, 
and to do that will. In carrying out the 
purposes of the Creator within his sphere 
he becomes God-like and a blessing. Cow- 
per saw him (in his mind's eye,) and pays 
this tribute to departed worth : — 

" In college halls in ancient days 
There dwelt a sage called Discipline. — 
His eye was meek and gentle, and a smile 
Played on his lips; and in his speech was heard 
Paternal sweetness, dignity, and love. — 
The occupation dearest to his heart 
Was to encourage goodness. — Learning grew 
Beneath his care, a thriving plant. — 
The mind was well informed, the passions held 
Subordinate, and diligence was choice. — 
If e'er it chanced, as chance it must, 
That one among so many o'erleaped 



22 THE PHILOSOPHY OF 

The limits of control, his gentle eye 

Grew stern and darted a rebuke : — 

His frown was full of terror, and his voice 

Shook the delinquent with such fits of awe, 

As left him not till penitence had won 

Lost favor back again, and closed the breach. — 

But Discipline at length 
O'erlooked, and unemployed, grew sick and died. — 
Then study languished, emulation slept, 
And virtue fled. — The school became a scene 
Of solemn farce, where ignorance in stilts, 
His cap well lined with logic not his own, 
With parrot tongue performed the scholar's part, 
Proceeding soon a graduated dunce. — 

What was learned, 
If aught was learned in childhood, is forgot, 
And such expense as pinches parents blue, 
And mortifies the liberal hand of love, 
Is squandered in pursuit of idle sports, 
And vicious pleasures." 

The purpose of this article has been to 
fix the nature of discipline in its essence. 
It would be foreign to that purpose to pro- 
ceed with the application of it to particular 
cases. Its application will pertain to Prac- 
tical School Ethics, a system of formulat- 
ing particular rules founded on these general 



SCHOOL DISCIPLINE. 23 

principles. Our purpose is fulfilled if we 
have indicated a sound underlying philo- 
sophy in the light of which the solution of 
particular problems may be pursued. 

There can be no correct practice that is 
not allied to sound theory, and the out- 
growth of it. 

A rule of practice not resting on the con- 
nected links of relations from the first prin- 
ciples of things or axioms of knowledge is 
worthless. An attempt to form such rules 
is simply empiricism and bungling. 

Nothing could be more valuable to our 
schools, more powerful to eradicate existing 
evils, than the inculcation of sound Prac- 
tical School Ethics. We shall doubtless 
have such a system blossoming out of the 
experience of teachers who encounter their 
work in the proper condition. 



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FROM SCHERMERHORN'S BANKRUPT SALE, 



The publishers of the Bulletin would announce 
that at the recent closing out sale of Scbermerhorn's 
School Supplies they were large purchasers, and will 
henceforth fur.iish to school-boards and teachers a 
large proportion of the goods heretofore controlled 
by J. W. Schermerhorn & Co. Of most of these 
articles we have lowered the retail prices, and upon 
them all we shall give liberal discounts for large 
orders. We would call particular attention to the 
following 

New Book*. 

JohannoVs School-Houses. This new and finely 

illustrated octavo volume is the standard work upon 

the subject, and should be in the hands of every school 

principal, and of every school-board. We bought 

the eutire edition, and have lowered the price from 

$3.00 to $2.00. 

What the Xeicspajjers Say. 

"The book supplies a real want." — Christian Advocate. 

" We thank the publishers tor producing such a book.'" — 
Th e Presbyterian . 

" Every school-board in the land should have a copy of 
this work.""— Lutheran Observer. 

"The illustrations in this volume are good, and the test 
is brief and clearly written." — New York World. 



26 schermekhorn's 



"We have seen nothing to equal it in completeness and 
practical suggestions." — Philadelphia City Item. 

"We take pleasure and pains in commending this book as- 
one likely to work a salutary reform." — New York Observer. 

"Those who are thinking of building, or of improving 
school-houses, will do well to consult this volume." — Baptist 
Union. 

" The work is one of unqestionable practical utility, and 
its mechanical execution is a model of choice typography." 
— New York Tribune. 

" With this volume in their hands, school committees and 
teachers would lose all excuse for uncomfortable and unat- 
tractive houses." — National Baptist. 

" It is certainly a valuable work, not only for teachers, 
school committees, legislators and builders, but for parents 
and general readers." — Sunday School Times. 

" This book is comprehensive and thoroughly good — the 
suggestions are so evidently dictated by common sense as 
to commend themselves at once." — New York Evening Maih 

"It would not be amiss if the State should furnish one 
copy of this admirable work to every county and city super- 
intendent, so that it might be accessible to all schools and 
building committees." — Wisconsin Journal of Education. 

" This is a most important, practical book ; every taacher 
in the land, every school commissioner, and trustee, and 
superintendent, will fail of his duty to the public and to the 
rising generation, who does not at once purchase this very 
valuable book; it is full of wise, judicious and practical 
suggestions." — HalVs Journal of Health. 

"We commend it heartily, because the efficiency of our 
common school system depends almost as mnch upon the 
school-houses as the schools. If the lessons it teaches are 
heeded, the unsightly buildings where American children 
are compelled to receive their education will be gradually 
replaced by better structures, and the multiplication of 
school-houses become a great good to the people." — New 
York Herald. 

" This is an elegant and extremely valuable work on the 
proper construction of school buildings. It contains finely- 
drawn designs, ranging from the plainest and cheapest styles 
to the most ornate and expensive, accompanied by clear 
and intelligent comments and explanations. The important 
subjects of heating and ventilation, as well as other scarcely 
less important ones of comfort and convenience, are fully 
attended to. A copy of this book ought to be in the hands 
of every body of men having charge of the construction of 
a new school-house, or the renovation of an old one." — New 
York Times. 



BANKRUPT SALE. 



27" 



FrobUher'8 Good Selections. Of late years, there 
has been a demand for a cheap book of fresh pieces 
of prose and poetry for reading and elocution classes 
Of all the books published to meet this want Fro' 
bisher's seems to us the best. We purchased the 
entire edition, have had it rebound in handsome 
shape, and have lowered the price from 30 cts. to 25 
cts. The book contains 168 pages, and should be in 
the hands of every teacher. A handsome edition in 
boards, on tinted paper, is published at 40 cents. 

What the Newspapers Say. 
Momil eUentl escellent! "-^ Virginia Educational 

™^!K rece , n ^. auth . ors are represented, including some 
capital tTEnsl&Uons."~Michigan Teacher. cmamg some 

theTeYeo 3 t t fon e 5! X - ell T^^ and amuse 7 ment are well blended in 
me selections. — The Commonwealth (Boston.) 

"A pieasing variety of wisdom and fun, with an amoendix 

ter J, h ^ D t d h e e aV t°Jen f t £? SX^hlThJS fafelvThoTn 
such unprecedented activity/'-^Jr^X.^* 617 Sh ° Wn 

+ a lV PrOI ^ SS , M, I i ,rob J sher ' in the maj n, displays admirable 
taste and skill in these selections. They overflow wTth life 

^il anety ' Wlt and Path0s " nature and y interest/'-i^S 

««l' In + it u are sk . etches and poems from our most Domilaranrt 

are^eatred^nr-'T 111 ^ 130 / 8 from ^nZle^amations 
are required and girls who have recitations to make will 
find just suited to their purpose."-.^ York Tribune 

' The selections are choice, inspired bv eood taste and 
comprise poems that touch upon nearl/ every chase of 
emotion, or sentiment. The suggestions as rn rfnhiir *rL? 
ings character readings, witty alf humorous reading ™ tc 
are very judicious and practical. "-Christian Inumgint* 
+v, v he A sel f ctions are made with great care and taste from. 
£S n S?n c °> al CU1 ' rent literatur * and something wiif Te 
Sirt of the h a S°- St .\ Very occa ^on. Not the leasWahmblt 
part of the book is the appendix, which contains helnfnl 
JSP^T t^e culture and management o! P th£ 
voice. —The Advance, (Chicago.) 



28 schermerhorn's 



•'The selections are new as readings, and seem to be 
judicious as well as spicy. We welcome anything that will 
help our boys to speak well when they become men. The 
average American citizen has numerous opportunities for 
public speech. He would be far more effective if he were 
trained to speak better." — Home Magazine. 

" The appendix is the most ingenious part of the volume. 
In it the sayings of successful speakers on certain points of 
eleocutionar? introduced among the compiler's own essays 
in such manner as to give many good hints without mar- 
ring the unity of the whole, which is a fair treatise on suc- 
cessful delivery."— National Teachers' 1 Monthly. 

"This is a work that will be interesting to all who love 
pure literature, and especially valuable for those who are 
studying the science of elocution. Prof. Frobisher is well 
known in New York and Brooklin as one of our most accom- 
plished elocutionists, and his remarks on that subject, at 
the end of the volume, are straight to the point." — Christian 
Union. 



Diadem of School Songs. This was the most at- 
tractive and popular of the several music books 
published by Schermerhorn & Co. We bought the 
plates and all the copies, and have lowered the price 
from 60 cts. to 50 cts. a copy. For the present, 
sample copies will be sent at half price to teachers 
who wish to examine the book with a view to intro- 
duction. The price per dozen will be $5.00; per hun- 
dred, $40.00. 



American Library of Education. Mr. Schermer- 
horn did an excellent work in providing for teachers 
the standard treatises on education in cheap and 
portable form. These six little books contain each 
some 200 pages, and will prove of benefit to any 
teacher. The price was 25 cts. per volume. We 
bought the entire edition and have lowered it for 
the three volumes of which there were the most 
volumes on hand, in order to furnish as many even 



BANKRUPT SALE. 29 

sets as possible. The volumes will be seut post-paid 
at the following rates : 

I. Locke's Essay on Education, 15 cts. 

II. Locke on Reading and Milton on Edu- 
cation, 25 cts. 

III. Horace Mann on Physiology in Schools, 25 cts. 

IV. University Addresses of Fronde, Carlyle. 

Mill, etc, 25 cts. 

V. VI. TJie Bible in the Public Schools, both 

volumes, 25 cts. 



We shall also keep regularly on hand the following 
books for teachers, which will be sent post-paid on 
receipt of the prices annexed : 

Sheldon's Elementary Instruction, $ 1 .50 

Sheldou's Object Teaching, 1.50 

Kiddle & Schem's How to Teach 1.25 

Catherine Beecher's Educational Reminiscences 1.00 

Life of Horace Mann, 3.00 

Life of Emma Willard, 2.00 

Also all the works now considered standard in 
this department. 



School Records. 

The Peabody Class Records: on a New Plan. 
(Patent applied fer.) The Peabody Class Record 
(the invention of Mr. Towle, a New 5Tork Teacher,) 
gives the most complete, comprehensive, concise and 
convenient system for keeping Class Records ever 
invented. It is peculiar in many particulars, among 
which are the following: The Names of the Class, 
once written, need not be rewritten during the year, 
even though several pages be required for the marks ; 
the Names of all the class appear on one page before 
the Teacher; the Order of Recitations can be 
arranged to suit the wishes of each Teacher; the 
Marks of each Pupil are permanent, and readily 
referred to any time; its paramount advantage is 
the great saving of time to the over-taxed teacher. 

It is not easy to explain briefly the construction 



30 SCHERMERHORN S 

of these Records. The plan of ruling and cutting to 
accomplish their desired purposes must be seen to 
be appreciated. Ample printed directions and sug- 
gestions accompany them. There are two sizes, each 
adapted to a year's use. The smaller, No. 1, may be 
styled a " Pocket Edition." Sizes and Prices : 
No. 1—5 inches wide x 9 inches long, 100 pages. . .$1.00 
No. 2—8 inches wide x 10>£ in. long, 100 pages. . . 1.50 
(Specimens mailed on receipt of the price.) 

Strong's Scholar's Diary is designed to exercise 
the young in making a daily record of items and 
events. It cultivates habits of observation and 
accuracy. Such a record, faithfully kept, will prove 
a history of the writer's life, its value increasing 
with passing years. It contains:— I. Specimen pages 
of a Diary, "suggesting manner of making daily 
entries. II. Rules and Maxims. III. Subjects for 
Compositions, with simple suggestions. IV. Rules 
for Capitals. V. Rules for Punctuation. Price, 
(Specimen by mail, Oc.) per dozen, reduced from $2.50 
to $1.00. 



Shaw's Scholar's Register is a complete record for 
the pupil, arranged for Attendance, Conduct and 
Recitations, for fourteen weeks. Also, Abstract for 
Term, so condensed that comparative standing may 
be observed at a glance. A recitation is marked by 
the pupil, with lead pencil. The teacher can mark 
with ink such changes as are needed, make average 
for week, and carry it forward to Abstract. There 
are spaces for the parent to make remarks, and 
specify weekly time given to study at home. The cor- 
rect use of Scholar's Register will save the teacher's 
time, and stimulate pupil to better conduct and 
better lessons. He will be careful that his own hand 
may not record irregularities, misdemeanors, or 
poor lessons. Price, (Specimen by mail 6c. ) per dozen, 
reduced from $1.00 to 50 cts. 



American Educational Monthly. We bought the 
entire lot of bound volumes of this excellent jour- 
nal, extending from 1865 to 1874. These volumes are 
octavos of several huudred pages, uniformly bound 



BANKRUPT SALE. 3 I 

in cloth, and containing an amount and variety of 
•educational information and suggestion not to be 
elsewhere obtaiued at several times the amount 
asked. For the present, we will send these volumes, 
post-paid, at the following rates : 1865, 6, 7, 8. 9, at 50 
cts. each; 1870, 71, at 91. 00 each; 1872 at $2.00; 1873, 
4, at 75 cts. Tae few complete sets we have will be 
sent by express at 15 00 for the ten volumes. For 
school libraries, this is a rare opportunity. 



Aids to School Discipline. The Aids may be used 
in various ways. This is convenient: in the morn- 
ing give each pupil a card (5 merits), representing a 
perfect day, to be forfeited for misdemeanor, or fail- 
ure in recitation. Single Merits and Half Merits are 
for pupils who fail to retain their Cards and yet 
worthy of some credit. Five Cards held by any 
pupil are exchanged for a Check (25 merits), repre- 
senting a perfect School Week. Four checks are ex- 
changed for a Certificate of Merit, representing 100 
merits or a perfect Month. These certificates bear 
the pupil's name, and are signed by the teacher. The 
number held shows the pupil's standing. 

If prizes or medals are awarded at close of session, 
there can be no mistake in determining to whom 
they belong; the decision being made by each pupil 
exhibiting his Cards and Certificates, no idea of 
favoritism can arise. 

The Aids naturally and invariably awaken a lively 
interest, for the pupil takes home with him the ivit- 
ness of his daily conduct and progress. 

They are neat in design, printed in best colors. 
The certificate* are prizes which pupils will cherish. 
Single Merits and Half-Merits are printed on card- 
board ; cards and checks on heavy paper, so as to 
be used mauy times — heuce the system is cheap. 
They are put in sets of 500 there being 80 Certificates, 
120 Checks, 200 Cards, 100 Single Merits and Half- 
Merits. Price per set (mailed), $1.25. 

Handsome 'Testimonials, executed in the finest 
style, with border, appropriate designs aud sketches, 
etc. Finely printed on Plate paper, size, 19x24 
inches, each 25c. 



32 SCHERMERHORN S BANKRUPT SALE. 

School Room Mottoes. These mottoes, 16 in num- 
ber, are printed by Praug, are h% by 13>£ inches, and 
contain the following mottoes : Be Polite, I Will Try, 
I Am Late, I Am Early, Obey Orders, Know Thy- 
self, Time is Money, Learn to Wait, Speak the Truth, 
Strive to Please, No Lie Thrives, Truth is Noble, 
Knowledge is Power, Dare to Do Right, Idleness 
Leads to Vice, and You Can if You Will. Price per 
set of sixteen, $1.00. 



Johyison's Solar System Chart. Dr. Johnson's In- 
destructible School Charts are well known, being 
mounted on enamelled c'oth and painted by hand 
(not printed). Of them all. that of the Solar System 
is by far the handsomest, being in a blue ground 
with white and colored lines. Having bought the 
entire edition, we offer them at a price reduced from 
13.00 to $1.00. This is the cheapest school-room 
adornment ever offered. 

DAVIS, BARDEEN & CO., 

White Memorial Building, Syracuse, N. Y. 




1. The School Bulletin and New York State Educa- 
tional Journal. — 1 lie largest and cheapest monthly 
School Journal in the United States. One Dollar a year. 
Specimens Ten Cents. 

2. Bound Volumes of the School Bulletin.— Volumes 
First and Second, each handsomely hound in Drown cloth, 
with gilt stamp on side and hack. Volume First $2.00. 
Kolnme Second $1.50. 

3. Common School Law for Common School Teachers.— 
The standard text-hook, pocket edition, handsomely hound. 
President White of Cornell says ; " Not only every teacher 
in the State, hut every member of the Legislature and every 
Supervisor and School Commissioner should have one." The 
London Schoolmaster (England), says: -'-It would seem 
tliat a similar work treating of the legal rights, duties and 
statutes of English Schoolmastery is much needed." Fifty 
Cents. 

4. Studies in Articulation.— By James H. Hoose. Ph. D., 
Principal of the Cortland State Normal School. This not 
only analyzes each sound in the language, hut gives as il- 
lustrations hundreds of words commonly mispronounced. 
Hon. W. D. Henkle. editor of the Nation a l readier, and of 
Educational Notes and Queries, says : "It is needless to say- 
that we are pleased with this hook, for it presents just 
what we have for years discussed in Teachers' Institutes 
and urged should he taught in schools. Fifty. Cents. 

5. The Eegents' Questions, 1866 to 1877.— These are the 
questions given from the first hy the Regents of the Univers- 
ity of the State of New York, to determine what pupils in 
Academies and Union Schools are sufficiently advanced in 
Arithmetic, Geography. Grammar, etc. to pursue the higher 
branches. The questions are therefore practical and an 
admirable drill in any School. Complete, cloth, One Dollar. 

6. The Eegents 1 Questions Separately.— Four volumes, 
cloth hound containing respectively the questions in (1) 
Arithmetic, (2) Geography. (3) Grammar, (4) Penmanship 
and Spelling. These handsome little books are admirably 
adapted to class use. Twenty-five Cents each. Keys to the 
Arithmetic and Geography, Tvoenty-fice Cents each. 

7. The Eegents' Arithmetic Question Slips.— Each ques- 
tion is printed on a separate slip of cardboard, the color 
corresponding to the subject of arithmetic which the prob- 
lem illustrates. One box answers for a whole school, and 
questions suited. to any grade may be selected at sight by 
t'^e color of the cards. A key accompanies the box. One 
Dollar. 

8. The Constitution of the State of New York, em- 
bodying the latest amendments. Cloth bound, uniform 
With the Eegents 1 Questions. Twenty-tive Cents. 



9. DeGraff's School Room Guide embodying tlie Instruc- 
tion given by the author at Teachers' Institutes, and es- 
pecially intended to assist District School Teachers ia the 
practical work of the school room. Part I, Language and 
Letter Writing. Cloth, uniform with the Regents' Ques- 
tions. Twenty-five Cents, 

10. Frobisher's Good Selections.— Tins book admirably 
meets the demand for a book of fresh pieces of prose and 
poetry for higher reading classes. It contains 163 pages in 
clear type, and should be in the hands of every teacher. 
Paper Twenty-five cents,- boards Forty cents. 

11. Johannot's School Houses.— This new and finely il- 
lustrated octavo volume is the standard work upon school 
architecture, and should be owned by every School Board. 
Two Dollars. 

12. American Library of Education.—!. Locke's Essay 
on Education, II. Locke on Reading and Milton on Educa- 
tion. III. Horace Mann on Physiology in Schools. IV. 
University Addresses of Froude, Carlyle. Mill, etc. V, vi. 
The Bible in the Public Schools. Twenty -five cents eacli. 

IB. The Institute Song Budget. — is pages, 64 Songs, 5 full 
page illustrations. This will be sent post-paid in any 
quantity for Fifteen Cents a Copy. 

14. The Diadem of School Songs, by Wm. Tillinghast, 
with a Complete System of Instruction, and pieces adapted 
to every occasion. 160 pages, boards. Fifty Cents. 

15. Ryan's School Record —The entire record of a school 
may be kept without copying and a weekly report sent 
home each week at the expense per term of 14 weeks for 56 

upils, of Fifty Cents. 

16. The Peabody Class Record, a unique system of per- 
manent class reports. The plan of ruling and cutting must 
be seen to be appreciated. It saves time as no other can. 
No. l, 5x9 inches, loo pages, $1.00; No. 2, 8xl0>£ inches, $1.50. 

IT. Shaw's Scholar's Register.— The recitation is mark- 
ed by the pupil in lead pencil. The teacher marks the 
changes with ink. makes the average for the week and car- 
ries it to the abstract. Siwcimens Six Cents,- per dozen Fifty 
Cents. 

IS. Commissioners' Certificates.— We now print the cer- 
tificates issued to teachers by nearly all the commissioners 
of the State. We print the name of the Commissioner, 
county and District, and bind in books of one-hundred 
each of any grade wanted. One Dollar per boolc. Postage 
Fifteen Cents. 

19. Complete Illustrated Catalogue of these and the 
rest of the School Bulletin Publications. Mailed to any ad- 
dress on receipt of two three cent stamps. 

Davis, Bardeen & Co , Publishers, Syracuse, N. Y. 



